After losing much of its staff, the Georgetown Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences is seeking to join the Media Board in order to expand.
Currently run by the School of Nursing & Health Studies, GUJHS features online content such as op-ed pieces, and publishes undergraduate research bi-annually.
“There are tons of students on campus doing research, specifically within the health sciences, tons of students working at the medical center, so our main goal is to showcase the students and the work that they do,” GUJHS Executive Managing Editor Cayla Fappiano (NHS ’15) said.
With a current staff of two writers, down from 10 last year, the organization is seeking Media Board approval to increase its legitimacy and recruit new writers.
“We don’t have enough writers right now this year, so I’ve had one of our writers submit two pieces,” GUJHS Editorial Director Eileen Marino (NHS ’15) said. “We haven’t felt comfortable publishing one a month, and we’d rather wait until we’ve collected enough. Last year we did two a week, so even if we could do one a week, that’s the goal.”
Staff members would also like to diversify the staff beyond NHS students and science majors.
“I think if we do have that recognition by the Media Board, it does set us apart from being just the NHS, human science kind of club that we have always been,” GUJHS Editor-in-Chief Victor Wang (NHS ’15) said.
Next semester, the publication will change its name from the Georgetown Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences to the Georgetown University Journal of Health Sciences to further reflect this inclusivity across schools.
“We are universal, and we are open to everything at Georgetown University and not just localized to that one corner that the NHS seems to be,” Wang said.
Although the publication is seeking a more diverse staff, it will continue to appeal primarily to an audience interested in science.
“I feel like generally our main audience will still be within the science community, but we will publish articles and op-ed pieces that can really be appealing to anyone,” Fappiano said. “The scientific manuscripts themselves will be more applicable to a science audience.”